Eighteen Arahts

The year is 1554, the 33rd year of the Emperor Jiajing of the Chinese Ming Dynasty. But in many parts of the country, trouble is afoot. Japanese pirates have been preying on vulnerable communities – attacking helpless villagers and making off with plunder. Military commanders have been powerless to stop the raiders from doing as they please. So the Emperor issues a decree, ordering the fierce fighting monks of the Shaolin Temple to head to a fortress in Zheijiang to train soldiers to fight with staffs. A group of 18 fighters, led by the fearless Wu Jue (Xie Miao), heads off to Zheijiang. But when the monks arrive, they hear news of a group of villagers who have been captured by the pirates and held hostage. The monks put their training mission on hold and embark on a bid to save the hostages. But this sparks a chain of events that leads to further unrest. And when they arrive at their destination to discover that the garrison has fled the fortress, they realize that their only cause of action is to train the locals to fight for themselves! Will their efforts pay off – or will the pirates prevail? “Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin Temple” is a 2020 Chinese movie that was directed by Zhang Zhu Lin, Li Xi Jie, and Zhang Shu Yang.